Different brands exhaust pipe for Pellet Stove

[Could_Be_Warm]

Newbee here... Got my brand new pellet stove ten days ago, never fired up until today since waiting forever for vent pipe parts. Surprised that Lowe's where I bought the stove, has NO vent pipe parts for this thing! And advice, etc., seems non-existent. Finally took it outside today and ran it an hour, twice, recommended to burn off paint fumes. VERY nicely impressed at how it blows warm air, this is gonna be great! Getting closer to being able to run it in the house! I wonder, can you use two brands of pipe/parts or does the entire pipe have to be one brand? I finally looked at the pipe, 2 3-foot sections double-wall pipe are Selkirk, and there is a flexible section that's also Selkirk, but the cleanout tee is a DuraVent, and since I'm using a 6-inch ceiling chimney that used to have a wood stove I ordered a DuraVent 3 to 6 inch adapter that I'm assuming will plug into that ceiling somehow. If the Selkirk will not work with the DuraVent I need to get more parts NOW! Many thanks for any advice. Cold weather due here within days. LoL

 

[Flamman]

Stick to one brand

 

[Could_Be_Warm]

So I bought a DuraVent cleanout tee for the back of stove and two 36 inch Selkirk pipes, and a Duravent ceiling adapter 3 to 6 inch to use existing ceiling woodstove chimney. Sold the Lopi woodstove cheap cause I don't wanna have to feed it wood all night, and let smoke in the house every time you open the door. Besides, it created too much heat and the pellet stove with 4 settings will be able to turn down, or off, at will. Also pellet stove, you press one button to start and in 7 minutes you got heat. Quick, simple, easy.
Learned that all these parts don't mate with each other in any compatible way. Told Amazon I wanna return the Selkirk pipes, they said "Toss them in the trash" and issued a refund!! I was about to go out and look for Duravent products that would complete the system, including two 36 inch pipes, two 90 degree elbows and also an adapter is needed to place the cleanout tee on the back of the stove. No one tells you all this. Not even a diagram in the stove manual says you need any adapter to place the cleanout tee on the stove. No one tells you that you need to stay with ALL ONE BRAND of stove pipe parts. I went all around town picking up parts, finding the lowest prices, thinking it was a universal thing. NO, it's like Chevy spark plugs in a Jeep. Everything is different.
Finally rather than spend over $400 on Duravent pipes and elbows and stove to tee adapter, I thought, Why don't I get Selkirk brand pieces that will go with the ones Amazon credited me for, since those were (now) free? I ordered two 36 inch piped, a stove to cleanout tee adapter, a cleanout tee, and a ceiling 3 to 6 inch adapter, all for about $215, all Selkirk to hopefully mate with the two Selkirk pipes I have. I can sell the Duravent cleanout tee that I have, and return the Duravent 3 to 6 inch adapter when that arrives. My friend Steve said, "When you get your pellet stove I will install it for you, I've done these at three of my homes, it will take ten minutes". It's been two weeks since I got my stove and I still can't use it, and now a week at least before all the right stuff gets here, Steve's version of "Ill install it" is asking questions via text and offering advice about a week late. Steve said, "Don't buy a kit", so I went all over collecting pieces. A kit would have been better since all the parts would be compatible. Prices on pipes, tees, etc., vary wildly wherever you go!! You can pay $59 for a tee or $159 elsewhere for the same piece. It is CRAZY out there. You can go to a store asking for pellet stove pipes and they'll say thay don't have any, then browsing around you come upon a whole aisle FILLED with pellet stove pipes and parts WTF
Thanks Steve for all your help. I've learned everything the hard way, but who cares. This thing will be working by November 4th I think. LoL
Wish me luck!
Learned:
Get a carbon monoxide detector FIRST (It is brand new and on the wall already.
Get all one same brand vent system pipes and pieces
Cleanout tee needs an adapter to fit on back of stove (Why!!)
Don't believe anyone who says they will help
Measure six times and it will still be wrong
I got 3M Fire Barrier silicone sealant rated at 1000 Degrees and will use it on every single joint
GOOD LUCK to me!!

 

[johneh]

When you're done with the installation and are happily heating
you will learn that a pellet stove is not plug and play that there is
maintenance that has to be done regularly to keep the stove happy
I wish you luck and many years of happy heating

 

[Could_Be_Warm]

Thanks, Johneh! My manual says to look in and clean the ashbox once or twice a week. After two hours runtime i looked in there and saw almost NO ashes! I have a shop vac that I will use exclusively for cleaning the burn tray and the ash tray. I think once a year an inspection of the exhaust pipes to ashes or creosote buildup? Possibly look inside and check for ashes, etc., daily or twice a week before turning it on? There are also two gizmos near the top that you are supposed to take out and clean somehow, I gotta read that part of the manual again... I don't think there's much more to it than that. I plan to use it only when I am home, and turn it on or off manually, rather than set a temp and leave it to run when it would like to. So it will be used more like a heater that you turn on when you want to, than an automatic furnace, and it will never be running when i am not at home. More like a much more convenient replacement for the wood stove.

 

[Could_Be_Warm]

Also I plan to get a UPS uninterruptable power supply, it's a battery backup thing that, if the power goes out in a storm, will keep the stove running a while at least, so it could then be shut down properly. I believe I can also plug my desktop PC and monitor into it. They cost about $225 for a

CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD PFC Sinewave UPS System, 1500VA/1000W, 12 Outlets, AVR, Mini Tower.​

 

[johneh]

Don't forget a good surge protector.
I run my stove 24/7 and have been for the last 22 years
It has been a good investment and it is nice to get up in the morning
to a warm house

 

[Washed-Up]

Sorry if I missed it, what stove are you setting up

 

[Could_Be_Warm]

The stove is a

Master Forge 800-sq ft Pellet Stove with 30-lb Hopper (EPA Approved) from Lowe's,​

Item #4976270 |
Model #F500218
The Master Forge Mini Pellet Stove is designed to be compact but most effective. Heat smaller spaces from 800 to 1200 square feet, such as an all-season room or family cabin quickly and economically with the 30-pound hopper capacity. Measuring only 20 inches across and 18 inches deep, and 36 inches tall, you can now install a pellet stove in areas never before available. Built-in Wi-Fi technology and remote make the adjustable thermostat for this EPA-approved high-efficiency pellet stove simple to control from anywhere. The easy-access service areas make maintenance quick and simple. Designed and engineered with solid steel and cast iron construction built for extended performance and trouble-free use for years to come. The Smart stove app is available on iOS and Android platforms.

• This stove qualifies for a 30% IRS Biomass Stove Tax Credit
• Built-in WiFi – Smart Home Technology
• Heats 800 to 1,200 sq ft
• 30 lb large capacity hopper
• Digital control panel and remote included
• Equipped with Whisper Quiet Blower Technology™
• Fresh air supply kit included

 

[Could_Be_Warm]

Well, now they have canceled my order for the two 90 degree elbows and the adapter to make the cleanout tee fit onto the back of the stove. The elbows are needed to make the offset so that I can put the stove where the woodstove used to stand and use the chimney in the ceiling that used to accommodate the woodstove. I am seriously thinking of just buying a complete kit that will attach to the stove, rise up four feet or so, and go right out through the wall. Who ever thought that just installing a vent for this would be such a difficult thing? Back to the bad advice from my friend when he said, "Don't get a kit". I'm going out today looking for a complete venting kit.

 

[Could_Be_Warm]

Well, Of Course, although I "Could Be Warm", I'm not. I would advise anyone to not use Duravent products. They seem okay in general, but after buying nearly a thousand dollars of pipes, elbows, etc., and returning so many of them that I'll never be able to be sure the refund amounts get credited back to my credit card, the pipe for the stove is almost complete but I was waiting for almost two weeks for the 3 to 6 inch chimney adapter so I could fit the 3 inch double-wall pipe to the six inch hole in the ceiling where the old wood stove connected. Finally that thing arrives all the way from Florida, too from Oct. 18 to Oct. 31st to arrive. It''s got the wrong thing in the box! What the box says it is, is a 3PVL-X6 that fits into the six inch hole in ceiling and connects directly to Duravent 3 inch stove pipe. What is actually in the box is just a six inch long collar that's six inch OD and about 5 inch ID. Nothing to do with 3 inch stove pipe at all! So it is back to square one. Obviously someone at Duravent is on drugs and can't get the right thing into a box! Maybe by Thanksgiving I could use my new pellet stove.

 

[Could_Be_Warm]

Does everyone who gets a pellet stove go through this, and wait a month after getting the stove before being able to use it! Or is mine just have a curse on it,. LoL

 

[rickwai]

Does everyone who gets a pellet stove go through this, and wait a month after getting the stove before being able to use it! Or is mine just have a curse on it,. LoL

No. Is there an actual stove shop near you? We use PelletVent Pro pipe. Or call an online retailer that you can talk to. Tell them your brand of stove and your set up and they can get you the right stuff. I would suggest 2 45's instead of 2 90's. In the long run it would have probably saved you money.

 

[Could_Be_Warm]

Stove shops! There are quite a few. Most have a large selection of nice $5000 pellet stoves but no pipe. One store told me they had no pipes or parts but when i got there I found a whole aisle of pipes and parts. But they do not have the piece that adapts a 3 inch pipe to a 6 inch chimney in the ceiling where a woodstove used to connect. So i went to Home Depot, Lowes, Tractor Supply. and a few other stores, no one has it. So i ordered one on Amazon and it got lost on the way!! So I ordered another one and it took 13 days to come from Florida and when I opened the box, the wrong part was inside! The box even had the item part number plus a picture on it, and the part number on the part was entirely different,. instead of an adapter going from 3 inch to six inch, it was just a collar that was six inch long and six inch outside diameter and five inch inside diameter. I returned that for refund. Meanwhile, I had ordered more of this elusive adapter, from Amazon and eBay, and canceled those orders when my engineer friend told me he found one at Grainger so I drove 19 miles to where he works to get it, and he says, "They didn't have it after all, their computer said they had it but they did not have it." Callled some more shops locally that sell pellet stoves and they don't have any pipe stuff. Now there is a Selkirk product that's supposed to be a 3 inch pipe adapter to 6 inch ceiling chimney, but the stove has a complete set of pipes on it now waiting for this last piece but all the stuff on the stove is Duravent. That last piece was supposed to arrive today according to Amazon, but when I take the tracking number and go to the USPS site and track the package, it says due to arrive Saturday Nov. 4th!! It's like, What the heck is going on And when that thing does arrive, it's Selkirk and the rest of the system is Duravent, so I doubt it is going to work. We DID get, and use, two 45-degree elbows instead of 90's, the entire stovepipe is put together and sticking up into the chimney thing in the ceiling, but it's just not sealed, and so that's why I still need the ceiling adapter. Would be nice to start up the stove and have some warm happening...
So far, there's a cleanout tee with stove adapter on the back of the stove, a three foot section of pipe, then a 45 degree and a two foot pipe, another 45, and a three foot section sticking up into the ceiling. All Duravent. I think I've had this stove almost a month now.
Thanks.... Could_Be_Warm

 

[Could_Be_Warm]

It seems like it's a rare occurrence that someone takes out a woodstove and replaces it with a pellet stove? That 3 inch pipe to 6 inch ceiling chimney adapter, seems to be a very hard thing to get a hold of. And when you get one, it's got a picture of it on the box, but what's inside is entirely something different. I'm sure it will probably be up and running sometime, but when? Could be a while. I know a guy who is a HVAC installer specialist with 40 years experience I might go see him this weekend and show him pictures and see what he says. LOL

 

[Could_Be_Warm]

I decided to take a photo of the chimney on the roof that was used for the old woodstove. I was unaware that it is now leaning, it's crooked, I got a leaning Tower of Pisa... obviously that will have to be straightened out now somehow. Just great. The roof has a slant to it but basically from the photo standoint, the chimney should be straight up and down, not angled to the left. It must have got wiggled loose when the woodstove was being removed? I'm sure that can be corrected, just more work to this cataclysm called an install. LoL
The ceiling photo shows the pipe going up there, my engineer friend says the 3 inch pipe "Goes almost up to the top of the pipe up on the roof" but I think that is totally wrong, it's a 36 inch pipe so I think it is only sticking into the ceiling about 5 inches or less. Whether that matters. The paper towels were placed in there just to hold it in place while all the silicone sealant on the pipes dry. What a quagmire. I wanted to get a through-the-wall thimble, would have been a lot easier, and already done. But everyone said to use the ceiling chimney since it's there. This whole thing is just stupid.

 

[Washed-Up]

On 2 installs I’ve done, I’ve taken a 6” cap and used a 4” hole saw(outside diameter) and used silicone and worm clamps to hold it in place…never mentioned it because code is touchy place to place…no issues where I am though

 

[Could_Be_Warm]

My engineer friend and I are thinking of having something made, basically a flat sheet of metal to fit that square thing on the ceiling, and have a welded collar put onto it that will reach upwards, and stabilize the pipe going up there. Of course straighten the part on the roof... LoL. Can't blame that on Santa Claus. We'll look at that piece that is "arriving" saturday. Also there's my HVAC friend I bet he could fabricate something or will know someone who can. Hopefully before the super cold weather gets here in a few weeks. I still have a high efficiency gas furnace that was installed four years ago, but the pellet stove was gonna be icing on the cake. Patience is a virtue, they say. I was never a doctor obviously because patients, is one thing I have very little of. LOL

 

[Washed-Up]

I found a couple photos and it looks like a 10” or 12” cap and then I inverted it so it would sit upside down, then similar up on the roof.

 

[Washed-Up]

Hope it helps, keep us posted

 

[Could_Be_Warm]

Well. My friend Terry the HVAC pro came over and laughed at the pipes that were attached to the stove and said it looked precarious and dangerous. There was a 36 inch pipe coming up meeting a 45 degree bend and a 12-inch pipe then another 45 and then a 36 inch, going up into the ceiling. I didn't like the way it looked. Terry says, "Why didn't you call me three weeks ago!?" He said forget about using the ceiling chimney and plug that. Said to follow the KISS principle, keep it simple stupid, and go thru the wall, that's the way millions of pellet stoves are connected all across the country. I was like, Whatever you wanna do is fine. We got a wall thimble and an outside termination vent piece, and it is now up and running. I still have to decide whether to use the outside air intake kit. I am thinking I probably will install and use that, and should be able to connect it within a few days. It's amazing how much better you feel when you're warm. Thanks everyone!

 

[mellow]

How has the stove been running? I am looking at the same model at lowes.

 

[Could_Be_Warm]

It has turned out pretty well. Seems to work great. I had not used the old woodstove in a few years because of smoke getting in the room when adding wood. Now I simply push a button.
It has four heat output settings I usually have it set to the lowest.
I did get a smoke alarm and put it in the room and also got a carbon monoxide detector as well, so I have both of those in the room where the stove is.
I use a shop vac once a week and empty out a small bunch of ashes. So I am happy with it, and it seems to be efficient and economical.

 

[Could_Be_Warm]

It appears, from my owners manual, that the only maintenance needed is to vacuum out ashes once a week or so depending on how much it's used, and empty the ash tray. I'm using a small shop vac that I got from a friend and I didn't like because it is extremely loud, but never got rid of. Now I'm glad I kept it, and I keep it just outside the door for easy access and use it exclusively for the pellet stove weekly cleaning. There is also soot buildup on the glass inside the door and I clean that a few times a week with a wet paper towel. Inside the stove there are four rods that I believe you are supposed to lift up and down a few times "daily" before use, I do it every other day or so, that's supposed to clean some tubes in there? Anyhow it seems to work pretty well and certainly produces heat on demand. I also got a cheap 12 dollar ceiling fan and hung it from a beam at the top of the ceiling, it has an on/off switch. Then I got one of those indoor/outdoor temp indicator devices, and placed the "outdoor" sensor/transmitter on the coffee table at the center of the room, and the "indoor" one with the digital display at the edge of the room on the bar. I can compare the temp of the center of the room with the edge, and when the center is a few degrees higher then I click on the ceiling fan. Since I hadn't used the woodstove at all for a few years, now this room is warmer more economically, and the space where the woodstove was, is now being useful again.
One thing, IF you buy the stove from Lowe's or anything from them, and get it on their credit account and get a deal with "No Interest for a year" etc, read the fine print and read your monthly statements!! I got flooring last year with 12 months - No Interest. Come December 11th, I had not fully paid the entire thing off and suddenly an interest charge of $1500 was added to my bill! Luckily I noticed and was like, What the Hell!! I read the last two billing statements and found that interest charge, and called customer service to complain. They told me that since I had not paid off the flooring deal, ALL the interest came back. Luckily again, I was within a "grace period" and if I paid off the flooring deal in full they would remove the $1500 interest charge. I paid that floor off immediately and they deducted the $1500 from my billing. This was on January First at 6AM... Happy new year! Had I waited a few weeks I woulda been outta luck. So BE CAREFUL and get those paid off in time! I thought I was being diligent in doing so, but still owed about $500 on the floor. Jeez

 

[CraneOp]

Well darn. I was hoping you were able to find that adapter because I'm in the same boat except I'm wanting to adapt selkirk 3 or 4 inch to selkirk 6 inch and I can't find an adapter. Seems like they should make one..